The fuel spewed from a broken pipe for a minute, but the white cloud dissipated, said launch director Mike Leinbach.

The pad already had had been evacuated for the hazardous fueling operation, and the shuttle was dozens of feet from the leak.

"We didn't ever consider this a threat to the vehicle," Leinbach said.

Atlantis' liftoff on a space station construction mission was postponed until at least Sunday so that the leak 37 feet above the pad can be repaired. Atlantis had been scheduled to lift off in late afternoon.